Product Description

Like the first-century Pharisees, we've reduced Christianity to a set of propositional beliefs. Truth is, we've gotten away from what it really means to be a Christian. In The Jesus of Suburbia, Mike Erre reveals that we've created a Jesus in our own image. In a fresh, startling manner, Erre helps us understand that the real Jesus is calling us to live, act, and think in ways that overturn the status quo.

"Expect no sugar-coated sweetness about 'felt needs' and in-church coffee bars from Erre, pastor of teaching at Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa, Calif. Expect instead compelling discussion of how the Christian church has lost sight of the revolutionary teaching and love of Jesus. 'Much of the message of American Christianity presents Jesus as the purveyor of the American Dream,' he says. American Christians, he claims, have reduced Jesus to a study of risk management; we want him to be 'predictable and safe.' Erre also uses the adjectives 'insecure, threatened, naive, simplistic, mean and shortsighted' to describe many of today's churches. He lambastes our love of theology instead of Jesus, our contentment with 'simply knowing about him instead of knowing him.' While this protest continues in the vein of other recent books that take a hard look at Jesus and the church (Jesus Mean and Wild; Out of Your Comfort Zone), it offers a fresh look at how the American church must begin 'demonstrating the message of Christ,' not merely explaining it. After all, says Erre, 'if you follow Jesus, you follow the most radical man who ever existed.'"--Publishers Weekly

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105579 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Expect no sugar-coated sweetness about "felt needs" and in-church coffee bars from Erre, pastor of teaching at Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa, Calif. Expect, instead, compelling discussion of how the Christian church has lost sight of the revolutionary teaching and love of Jesus. "Much of the message of American Christianity presents Jesus as the purveyor of the American Dream," he says. American Christians, he claims, have reduced Jesus to a study of risk management; we want him to be "predictable and safe." Erre also uses the adjectives "insecure, threatened, naive, simplistic, mean and shortsighted" to describe many of today's churches. He lambastes our love of theology instead of Jesus, our contentment with "simply knowing about him instead of knowing him." While this protest continues in the vein of other recent books that take a hard look at Jesus and the church (Jesus Mean and Wild; Out of Your Comfort Zone), it offers a fresh look at how the American church must begin "demonstrating the message of Christ," not merely explaining it. After all, says Erre, "if you follow Jesus, you follow the most radical man who ever existed." (Oct. 10)
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Review
"...a compelling discussion of how the Christian church has lost sight of the revolutionary teaching and love of Jesus." -- Publishers Weekly, August 14th, 2006

Customer Reviews

Let the revolution begin!
An excellent perspective on how we often sell out the true call of our faith for a consumer substitute. A challenge to guard against being so lulled by the comforts and trappings of suburban-American life that we literally begin to mix values that don't belong in our faith. That's called syncretism and as The Jesus of Suburbia makes clear, it's a big mistake.

To take the vision of this book seriously would lead to a beautiful living out of our faith as followers of Christ in the midst of our culture. This is excellent and accessible material that you can easily use in a small-group setting or to inform your teaching. As a pastor myself, I highly recommend it.

You may also be interested in learning more about ROCKHARBOR Church in Costa Mesa, CA where Mike Erre is the Teaching Pastor. It is a community of faith striving to live it's values in impressively unique ways despite it's location in the plush sun-drenched mall-topia of Orange County. If anyone has authority to speak of the challenges of truly being the Church in suburbia, it is Mike Erre with ROCKHARBOR as a living example.

READ THIS BOOK!
Great book! Mike challenges our comfortable watered down faith but does it in a challenging yet encouraging way. I love his frankness and his commitmment to scripture.

I would highly encourage pastors to read this and begin to think about if their church is safe or involved in the revolution to bring His love to the world. If you are not a pastor then read this and reflect on your life. Are you living a nice little suburban life or joining Jesus in His kingdom revolution?

insightful and provocative
Mike Erre's book takes a look at the Jesus that has been created by modern religion and questions how true that view of him really is. This is a wonderful book with many unique insights that provoke the reader to consider the source of their beliefs and challenge him/her to action.